unique search result interfaces

23 Jun 2008 - 4:20pm

Last reply:
6 years ago

11 replies

983 reads

Alla Zollers

2008

I was wondering if anyone has seen any unique or interesting search result
interfaces that break away from the linear model of listing results. The
only thing I have seen recently is: http://searchme.com

Also, in your opinion how usable and/or effective is the list model in
communicating search results?

Comments

24 Jun 2008 - 2:52am

AJ Kock

2007

There is also Clusty.com, Quintura.com, Kartoo.com and viewzi.com

24 Jun 2008 - 3:27am

Dr. Clemens Lango

2008

hi alla,

you might want to check the visual query module of the "visuos" concept:http://visuos.com

*note*
the site will be completely relaunched in mid july!
visuos the book will be available as budget ebook version then.

While I am heartily rooting for the success of my friends and former
co-workers who have joined Viewzi, I still feel like Search Results
should be a pit stop instead of a destination.

Maybe I have too much DOS in me. Maybe there's another component
that just hasn't fallen into place for me. Mostly, though, I expect
my Search Results to appear immediately after I press Enter. I do not
want to have to wait for a fancy interface to load.

This is a very interesting question... the real heart of the matter is
that users have a huge amount of experience with the list model. Any
innovation attempts have the deck stacked against them due to the
largely utilitarian nature of web search and this experience.

SearchMe is a nice stone throw across the pond of search UI stasis, but
it will take more than that to break the paradigm in a way that has
large scale commercial success.

For more constrained, site search interfaces, innovation is perhaps more
accessible. Focusing on the user task, their familiarity with the
content, and primary tasks (navigate vs research) can help find ways of
going beyond the list. Faceted browsing is the #1 rising candidate
augmentation of the search list UI but not tractable for full on web search.

Although I heartily agree about it being about speed, I don't think
this necessarily means text only. For me, it all depends upon the
type of content being searched, thus dictating the type of search
interface.

For example, I personally find it faster to search for photos through
the Piclens plugin for Firefox (http://www.piclens.com) rather than
flickr or google images standard results lists.

I echo Andy's comments about familiarity with the list model. That
said, I think the optimal presentation is dependent on what your
audience needs to obtain from the results to take action, and also
the nature of the information you're presenting. I work in the real
estate industry and we're in the midst of a redevelopment ourselves.
In usability testing we were looked at three distinct models of
search results: list view, mapped results (we're in real estate,
remember) and then an image view. (The image view wasn't as large or
slick as searchme.com, but you get the picture.)

In-house we believed the map view would be the most relevant and
provide the most benefit. In testing though, we were very surprised
to learn the map was least favored, while the list and image view
were both heavily used and preferred. The strong propensity toward
the visual image presentation truly surprised me, since the property
seekers were wholly focused on the image rather than also taking
other key criteria such as location, price, etc. into account.

As a side note, last week at UPA Patrick Hoffman touched on this
topic in his "Beyond Web2.0 skins and mashups...." presentation,
thought it was geared toward younger users. It was quite informative
and he discussed the greater ease to scan or flip through visual
images compared to the mental processing of scanning list of text. I
did a horrific job of describing his point, but if you are
interested, I recommend searching for more info.

Again, excellent topic!

On Jun 23, 2008, at 6:20 PM, Alla Zollers wrote:

I was wondering if anyone has seen any unique or interesting search
result
interfaces that break away from the linear model of listing results. The
only thing I have seen recently is: http://searchme.com

I echo Andy's comments about familiarity with the list model. That
said, I think the optimal presentation is dependent on what your
audience needs to obtain from the results to take action, and also
the nature of the information you're presenting. I work in the real
estate industry and we're in the midst of a redevelopment ourselves.
In usability testing we were looked at three distinct models of
search results: list view, mapped results (we're in real estate,
remember) and then an image view. (The image view wasn't as large or
slick as searchme.com, but you get the picture.)

In-house we believed the map view would be the most relevant and
provide the most benefit. In testing though, we were very surprised
to learn the map was least favored, while the list and image view
were both heavily used and preferred. The strong propensity toward
the visual image presentation truly surprised me, since the property
seekers were wholly focused on the image rather than also taking
other key criteria such as location, price, etc. into account.

As a side note, last week at UPA Patrick Hoffman touched on this
topic in his "Beyond Web2.0 skins and mashups...." presentation,
thought it was geared toward younger users. It was quite informative
and he discussed the greater ease to scan or flip through visual
images compared to the mental processing of scanning list of text. I
did a horrific job of describing his point, but if you are
interested, I recommend searching for more info.

Again, excellent topic!
Erin

27 Jun 2008 - 11:27am

Alla Zollers

2008

Erin - that is a very interesting finding because I would have thought
that the map view would have been better as well. Real estate = maps,
makes sense to me!! :)

The reason I asked my questions is because I am designing a
comparison site and was wondering if it might be better to present
results vertically side by side rather than in a list format. I have
also designed 3 different variations: a list view, a vertical
compare, and one inspired by the viewzi interface (thank you for that
pointer!).

My next step is to conduct some testing and see what users think. I
am itching with curiosity. I will report back here when I have some
results.

When I clicked on the link to visuos.com my browser pushed a commercial pop-under window onto my desktop. Normally I don't take the time to chime in on this kind of issue, but I'd like to continue to trust this discussion group and its postings. And experiences like this make me lose trust and think about bailing.

I'm questioning how appropriate it is to be placing recommendations on this discussion group linking to invasive web sites. In any case, I propose that any links to web sites with invasive experiences like this be clearly declared in the posting.